If casual American basketball fans didn’t already know this, then the world made it loud and clear in Paris: The U.S. has a ways to go before it becomes a 3x3 powerhouse.
American men were eliminated in the quarterfinals, while the defending champion women had to scratch and claw their way to a bronze medal Monday night.
“We have to pour as much [into 3x3] as we do five-on-five,” Los Angeles Sparks forward Dearica Hamby said after she sank the go-ahead free throw that helped the U.S. secure bronze with a hard-fought 16-13 victory over Canada.
“I think it’s not a wakeup call but just like, hey, we got to take it a little bit more seriously because if gold is the standard.”
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The U.S. men failed to qualify for 3x3 in Tokyo, while the American women took gold three years ago.
But if there was ever any air of U.S. invincibility on the women's side, it quickly vanished in Paris when the Americans lost their first four games and had to rally for bronze.
“Not the medal we wanted, obviously,” former University of Tennessee star Cierra Burdick said. “But I don’t want to take away from the moment. I want to be grateful, grateful to be here, a lot of gratitude. A lot of blood, sweat and tears were invested into this. That’s so cliché, but it’s so true.”
The growing 3x3 version of the game has many key differences from traditional basketball, as perimeter scoring, quick shooting and short bursts of energy are essential.
“I wish people understood how hard 3-on-3 is,” college basketball star Hailey Van Lith said after she scored a game-high 6 points in the bronze medal game. “A lot of people don’t understand the game. It’s a very tough game."
Val Lith, who will suit up for TCU this year, has extensive 3x3 international experience and said the other countries spend more time preparing than the U.S.
"There’s a lot of amazing teams here that have been preparing for four years," she said. "They’ve been preparing for this since the last Olympics, and we kind of got thrown together within a couple of weeks before.”
And in not so many words, Andreas Zagklis, secretary general of the International Basketball Federation, said a world basketball power like the U.S.' struggling in 3x3 might be good for spreading the game.
The 3x3 basketball development in far-flung places like Mongolia, Chile and Trinidad and Tobago might not be possible in the traditional, full-court game, Zagklis said.
“So 3x3 has this democratic aspect to it, that because of the smaller number of players you need to assemble as a team, it allows countries smaller population, or countries with not as deep pool of talent, to make it to the top," he told reporters Monday. "So I think 3x3 shows that success is possible for everyone, and that is not a secret anymore."
